A little known TV station has been projected world wide thanks to Twitter for their excellent so called “live coverage” of the riots in Birmingham.

Sangat TV is a registered charity, backed by gurdwaras from the UK and from other individuals. The channel is an open platform for the Sikh sangat to express their views independently. Programming includes educational material on the Sikh gurus and Guru Granth Sahib.

Wiki “Sangat TV came into prominence during the Birmingham Riots of August 2011. The station broadcast live from the streets of Birmingham on the second day of rioting in the city, Tuesday 9 August 2011, to provide accurate, live information and broadcasts. The channel’s coverage was used by Sky News and other national and international stations to show what was happening in the city”

It’s a rare picture indeed when in the middle of a live riot situation you get a British police riot officer shaking hands with the driver ( Mr Singh), this shows the respect Sangat and their crew are held within the Birmingham community.

People like the honesty and less polished production of Sangat against the two giants, Sky and the BBC, there is possably a lesson to be learned by the two major broadcasters.

Quote from Asian Image “What the Sangat TV team did prove however that maybe the traditional Indian method of getting a good story is most likely the best. To put it simply…get a camera…get your friend to drive and think about the consequences later.”

This ability to broadcast these events might not have happened had Sangat TV—normally a Sikh religious channel—not leased the LiveU units from Garland Partners. The station had intended to use the units to provide live coverage of a visit of a famous Sikh preacher. However, Sangat TV was contacted by a local councillor in the Handsworth area of Birmingham who wanted to warn the local community and help them work with the police.

Rather than having the councillor come to the studio, reporter Randher Singh took an LU60 unit with camera attached, and broadcast the councillor live using 3G connectivity from outside a local temple. From that point on, the station brought live pictures of the riots to Sky viewers that others simply could not, all due to their use of the LiveU technology.

The LU60 is the industry’s first bonded 3G/4G LTE video-over-cellular uplink backpack with proprietary RF technology for superior resiliency, with up to 1080 HD video. The units—provided in the UK through LiveU’s partnership with Garland Partners—have been used to broadcast numerous high-profile events as they happen, including the royal wedding, sporting events, political uprisings, and large-scale entertainment events.

2 comments on this post

With the UK government currently proposing local television stations throughout the country, this is a timely story. I am interested in your opinions about the prospects for this initiative with your pioneering experience of Glasgow’s Clyde Cablevision from over twenty years ago.